Less Is More for Owner of Toronto Nudist Emporium

The sign on the door of Malcolm Scott’s shop says it all: Clothing is optional, and if nudity offends, look elsewhere.

Inside the Nudist Store, Scott greets customers in nothing but socks, sneakers and a watch. At 48, with thinning red hair, a full beard and an ample belly, he’s no Playgirl centerfold.

But the curious and unconventional come nonetheless to his display of bare-wear, clothing and sundries for nudists.

“I just saw a need,” Scott says of his unusual retail venture. “I am a dedicated nudist. I wouldn’t be standing here naked if I wasn’t.”

Open since late January in a suburban Toronto strip mall, the Nudist Store retails items tailored to nudists that typically are sold at private resorts or through the Internet: towels with stitched pockets for keys, T-shirts, aprons, hats, water bottles, manuals, travel books.

A 20-foot yellow sign outside advertises novelties for the naked, but neighboring retailers seem tolerant.

Scott’s landlord says he pays the rent on time and always draws the blinds.

At a nearby cafe, though, manager Angela Riccio worries that children skating at a rink behind the mall might get the wrong idea. “When you see the sign ‘nudist,’ it brings to mind things other than what it’s there for,” she says.

Scott, a 30-year veteran of nudist culture, says that kind of association with pornography troubles nudists.

“You end up picking out [nudist magazines] from the Playboys and Hustlers,” he says of mainstream magazine vendors. “That’s insulting to nudists.”

While most nudists suit up for work and disrobe for play, Scott says he never liked the schism between personal and professional life. So three years ago, he left a button-down government job to make his living as a purveyor of nudist culture.

He started in the cloaked world of cyberspace, distributing products ordered from his Web site. Fellow nudists would collect in his cramped office and warehouse, and the crowded space gave Scott an idea--a retail store that caters to the estimated 50,000 nudists who visit clubs and resorts in Ontario.

The shop’s openness attracts nudists and newcomers to the lifestyle, Scott says, but secrecy still appears to pervade the culture. One customer scoots out the door when he sees a journalist.

Toronto police say they would investigate Scott only if someone complained, and a charge of violating the nudity section of the criminal code was unlikely. Sgt. Jim Muscat notes the attorney general must authorize such charges, and refused to do so a few years ago over a complaint about a topless car wash.

“We were told to get back out on the street and do some real police work,” Muscat says.

Calling his store “a portal to find out about naturism without taking that scary adventure into a nudist club,” Scott says it is better than shopping via the Internet. “Here you can talk to me.”

He dispenses his wares and knowledge of the nudist culture in equal doses. By a display table of towels embroidered with “I Play Nude,” he demonstrates the nudist etiquette of putting down a towel before sitting.

Anything a nudist might need is in the shop, from “Nudists Are Totally Cool” T-shirts to manuals titled “Beyond Nakedness” and “Growing Up Without Shame” to enough nudist resort brochures to stock a travel agency.

Why do nudists need clothes? Protection and pride, Scott explains.

“Maybe it gets cold, the sun is scorching, there’s no shade,” he says. “Many wear these T-shirts out in the ‘textile world’ to show they’re nudists.”

John Allen, 60, a farmer and confirmed nudist from nearby Guelph, visits the shop for travel information. “It’s good to have something like this,” he says as Sandy Hessel, a nudist activist and store helper wearing only a nipple ring, directs him to the brochures.

Allen passes on disrobing, although the shop seems warm. “I just came from the car, and it’s a little cold,” he says.